Results at first glance can be misleading

District official, while pleased, finds areas of concern in TCAP, ACT

There were 75 Estes Park High School seniors who took the ACT exam earlier this year. The seniors outperformed both the state and national averages in each category.

English

District: 20.7 State:19.8 National:20.55

Mathematics

District:20.9 State:20.4 National:21.1

Reading

District:21.0 State:20.5 National:21.33

Science

District:21.1 State:20.5 National:20.9

Composite

District:21.0 State:20.4 National:21.08

* Source: Estes Park School District

The Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) and American College Testing (ACT) scores can appear fairly simple to interpret.

The TCAP scores are used to pinpoint trends of district students over a 7-year window in the academic areas of reading, writing, math and science. The TCAP is given annually.

The ACT, which is the standard test for college admissions, is given only to graduating seniors but can be taken more than once. It is based on a scale of 1-36 with 36 reflecting a perfect score.

TCAP results usually show how students are doing versus the state and other school districts while the ACT results can be compared to other seniors in Colorado and nationwide.

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But appearances can be deceiving, say those who study, review and analyze these critical measures of student achievement.

Gerald Gabbard, the director of support services for the Estes Park School District, took time on Monday night to explain to the district school board why it's necessary to dig into the numbers to find the critical information.

"We continue to score at or near the state average," Gabbard said of the district's TCAP scores. "But, we're up and down all over the place (over the 7-year window). What that tells me is that a few kids make a huge difference."

Gabbard said while the district did well in writing, scoring near the state average in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10, while exceeding the state average in grade 8.

However, grade 4 writing scores were low and will require interventions.

In math, the district scored near the state average in grades 3, 4, 5, and 10. Eight and ninth grade math scores far exceeded the state average. But, additional interventions will be discussed by teachers for students in grades 6 and 7, Gabbard said.

In science, the district scored at the state average for grades 5 and 10 while grade 8 again exceeded the state average.

To illustrate his concern about trends - upward and downward - Gabbard pointed to the upward swing in eighth grade writing between 2011 and 2013.

"It's going up but what's happening?" Gabbard asked. "We need to analyze that. That's what we're in the process of doing now.

Writing, on the other hand, is a concern for a different reason.

"Writing, in general, is dropping," Gabbard said. "It is a concern. The state is dropping off, too. What we need to do is see how we can get more opportunity to extend writing."

Additionally, Gabbard said he was concerned about declining math and science scores.

Superintendent Patrick Hickey suggested that money - or the shortage of it - could be having an effect.

"From 2007 to 2013, we basically have had the same budget," Hickey said. "We've had limited resources."

As for ACT scores, Gabbard pointed out that new data shows a 5-year window of college preparedness by graduating seniors. The school's district's composite score of 21.0 tops the state average of 20.4.

"What we see is that we are scoring above the state average all five years and also exceeding the national average across the board," Gabbard said. "We had some real rocket scientists in 2011 and 2012 ... when we recorded our highest scores."

If there is a negative to the ACT scores, it's a projection that indicates the current crop of seniors may slip below the national average when they take the ACT test early next year.

"We might dip below the national average but it's just a projection," Gabbard said. "I'm studying it closely."

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